Reviews of Mnemba Island Lodge

Below are independent comments from 8 of our travellers who have visited Mnemba Island Lodge, and have kindly agreed to share their thoughts.

They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.

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Mr & Mrs D from Herts

Arrived on: 14-Oct-2017 Stayed for: 3 nights

Overall:

Good

Location:

Excellent

Rooms:

Excellent

Service:

Good

Food:

Average

Activities:

Excellent

Facilities:

Good

Desert Island Dream

A stay at Mnemba Lodge is a great way to end a safari holiday. The accommodation is of a very high standard and the island is beautiful. However it is very expensive and does not quite deliver the whole package.The transfers all worked like clockwork and we were allowed late checkout without even requesting it.The snorkelling was excellent and there were numerous activities on hand.Unfortunately the food and beverages were not up to the same standard. All the wine was mediocre and could be bought in a super market for around £6/£7. Not good enough when paying this sort of money! The food sounded good at times, but was actually quite dull. We were offered the same two types of fish for lunch and for dinner on the same day. It was simply grilled, beautifully, at lunch and was then presented as a dried shrivelled lump in the evening! There are other ways of cooking fish! The only desserts were sorbet at lunch and ice-cream at dinner. It is a 15 minute boat trip to the mainland. There is no excuse for this sort of lazy cooking. Sayari presented varying desserts at every lunch and dinner and they are in the Serengeti!

We were surprised and concerned to hear of our travellers' negative experience of the food on Mnemba, as this is not at all what we would expect based on our own experiences here. We understand from the owner that they were experiencing some operational issues at the time of these guests' stay and they are incredibly sorry that this impacted their experience. They have assured us that they have already put corrective measures in place - new wine offerings will be made available, a new dessert menu is being drawn up, and the General Manager is addressing the service. We are confident that this won't be a problem that occurs in future and are very glad that these guests enjoyed the other elements of their stay on this beautiful island.

Mr & Mrs H from Guernsey

Arrived on: 27-Sep-2015 Stayed for: 4 nights

Overall:

Excellent

Location:

Excellent

Rooms:

Excellent

Service:

Excellent

Food:

Excellent

Activities:

Excellent

Facilities:

Excellent

Mnemba Island Lodge review

An unforgettable experience in this little piece of paradise.

The island and location are simply stunning. Our expectations were completely and utterly surpassed.

The staff were both professional and knowledgeable and a true credit to andBeyond.

Mnemba Island Lodge review

Simply stunning all round. We basically inhabited our own slice of the island- it really was a true dessert island experience without another hut or person in sight. The huts are beautifully designed, very spacious and open to the elements; again adding to the Robinson Crusoe feel. The staff were fantastic and did everything possible to make our stay memorable including performing a guitar jamming session, arranging romantic candlelit dinners on the beach and in a hidden clearing in the trees, putting on a wine tasting evening, releasing baby turtles into the sea. The food was absolutely exceptional and the chef will cook pretty much anything on request. The lobster and prawn dishes were beautiful. The whole place and all the touches had such a high end quality- truly a top destination in the world.

Unique and truly exceptional

Boring, everything was truly excellent!

From the moment you arrive you are in a different world. The colours, beach room, food,service and the whole experience. The staff really do go out of their way to make your stay memorable-and they succeed. We were lucky to see the turtles going down to the sea and also all the other rare birds/animals on the island. make sure that guests are aware of which way the wind is blowing when they go as it makes a vast difference as to which rooms are sensible.

Obviously we have no complaints - however, I should point out that if there is a gale blowing all the mainland tourist snorkelling boats use the home reef, which is only about 100 metres in front of your room. Contrary to general knowledge, Mnemba will go out of their way to let you leave later depending usually on when their new guests are arriving. We left at 1.30 pm

Mnemba Island Lodge review

Absolute Heaven!!

Spoilt from start to finish. Best snorkelling/diving in the Indian Ocean, swimming with dolphins. Witnessed turtles hatching and laying eggs on the island. The food was out of this world. A wonderful place, it just does not get any better!! The staff are amazing as is the management.

Hatching turtles at Mnemba

Mnemba most unexpectedly provided us with two viewings of a turtle hatching which were a fantastic experience, and made our stay unforgetable. It was also very nice to be able to stroll to the home reef and snorkel, which provided a wonderful variety of animals and made up for the fact we were not going to be able to take advantage of the diving opportunities.

This was an extremely relaxing part of our holiday helped by the facilities and attentiveness of our bulter Amore. The staff were welcoming and we were impressed by the chef - the food was excellent. The island seemed to benefit from not having quite the same climate as the mainland which we could see just across the water often suffered from cloud and rain. The sunsets with sundowners provided were beautiful. We did not wear shoes for most of the holiday as the white coral sand was never too hot, although it took some time for my muscles to get used to walking in it.

Our room was extremely spacious and the fridge well stocked with drinks. Each room has its own shaded beach beds. You could be very private if you wished and we certainly enjoyed the evening meal on the beach outside our room. (we could have done this every day if we had wished)

The room was well serviced except that our room (apparently the only one at that time) had mosquitoe problems and because the room staff had been instructed not to intrude when guests were present it meant that our mosquito net was not in place at the correct time of day. We are not used to averting mosquito attacks and therefore would have preferred a more proactive approach from the staff. Certainly after some one had been brought in to spray the area there was a decrease in mosquito attacks.

The other problem was the last part of the road transfer which was incredibly rough (even compared to our game drives) despite a luxurious vehicle with a careful driver. It was an odd start to a luxury holiday. We also had a more difficult entry to the boat for the crossing because our flight in Arusha had been delayed so we were crossing with the rougher water at high tide (OK if you don't mind getting quite wet).

We feel for the price of the holiday we would have appreciated being offered some free treatments from the excellent spa staff in lieu of the diving trips which we were not using. One more comment - this is not an island to go to if you dislike the dove/pigeon family which use the island as a roost and are active even at night.